Powder and Sunshine

The snow literally glittered in the late afternoon sunlight.
Earlier, we loaded up the toboggans and tons of mittens, scarves, hats and boots and headed over the bridge towards the mountains. From the drive-thru at Starbucks (our first outing upon rising) we could see the mountains just across the harbor and the Burrard Straight- they were dusted with snow, and the snow line was much lower than it had been recently. The clouds were clearing from behind them and the fog rose in tufts from the green lower forests. The forecast promised little rain and possible sun for Vancouver, so we knew it would be a good day at the mountain. Half an hour beyond the bridge we climbed through the forest into the snow. Little piles by the road at first, then more, then the trees were lightly dusted and it became foggy, and the trees were weighted by more snow until it clung to all sides of the tree, not just the tops but underneath, and the very tops of the trees bent over with the weight of it, all of them leaning together. We reached the top of the mountain in the Provincial park, and parked the car. The sun was shining, it was clear and just about 0 degrees (C). We wandered down a path into the forest to a little clearing with a snow house that someone had begun building. We tried to mold snowballs from the foot and a half of fresh powder all around us. I discovered that you can break through the thin, hard crust of the outer snow, and the fluffy, light snow that lied beneath was so soft and dry, it barely stuck together enough to make a snowball. We scooped, packed and tossed with abandon. Fluffy white snow flying everywhere. After a walk back through the woods, we gathered our toboggans and headed for the hill. Zoe took some solo rides, shrieking and giggling the whole way down. We all took turns riding the wooden toboggan, sometimes all four of us piled in a row, bumping over the lumps, hurtling toward the snow bank. We climbed the hill over and over, the kids never complaining about the walk. They slid down the banks with other kids, landing in little piles, like puppies at the bottom. As the clouds continued to clear over Vancouver, we could see the City far below, the tall glass towers gleaming golden in the welcome sunlight.